Bubbe in a book

Bubbe prefers not to reveal her name so she can feel like everybody’s grandmother.The 85-year-old online star has put her recipes in print.

By AMY SPIRO
BUBBE AND Avrom Honig_521 (photo credit: Courtesy)
BUBBE AND Avrom Honig_521
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Before she turned 80, “Bubbe” had never used e-mail, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. Now, at age 85, she has a dedicated online following and receives e-mails from all around the world. That’s because she is the star of the online show – and now the book – Feed Me Bubbe.
Bubbe has been an Internet sensation since she began broadcasting cooking clips from her Massachusetts kitchen in 2006. Her 27-year-old grandson, Avrom Honig – who videos and edits the clips – was looking for a project after his college graduation. One day, while he was sitting at a kitchen table laden with his grandmother’s food, inspiration hit – and “Feed Me Bubbe” was born.
After the first video – of Bubbe making “Jelly Jammies” – was put online, she and Avrom were surprised to see the views and comments that were coming in from around the globe.
“I was shocked to get so many views from around the world,” says Bubbe. “Australia, Israel, Hong Kong, Africa – places to me that are quite far away.” And their comments made it all seem worthwhile.
“Everyone was saying, ‘Oh, it’s wonderful, please make more... When I watched you I felt like I was in my grandmother’s kitchen.’” One viewer said “my grandmother passed away, I really miss her so much, when I watch your show I feel like I’m talking to her.”
Since then, Bubbe – who prefers to keep her real name under wraps so she can feel like everybody’s bubbe – and Honig have published 35 videos, showing her cooking everything from sweet-and-sour meatballs to sponge cake to kasha varniskhes. A couple of years ago the episodes started appearing on JLTV, a Jewish cable channel in the US.
“It’s just amazing how you’re able to go and make a video show and give everybody the feeling, the tastes, the memories as if they’re actual in Bubbe’s kitchen even though they’re just looking at a computer screen,” says Honig.
And when the pair got an offer to do a book, they saw it as a chance to reach even more people with Bubbe’s traditional Jewish cooking and tales of her colorful life. So they set out to “give you Bubbe in a book,” says Honig.
The cookbook features more than 100 recipes of traditional Jewish cooking – from cheese blintzes to cholent, potato knishes and brisket. There are also a handful of more modern recipes – from the occasions when Bubbe takes requests from her children – like Indian pudding, eggplant lasagna and a tofu stew. Along the way you can read stories of Bubbe’s life, like when she first met her husband on Yom Kippur, when she was stuck indoors for days during a huge snowstorm, the time she bought five huge turkeys just because they were on sale, and the story of her mother’s journey to New York from Russia. In addition, each recipe comes with it’s own “Yiddish word of the day,” from yingl (boy) to schtern (star) to oygn (eyes).
Writing the book wasn’t without its challenges, Bubbe says. After all, “I had stopped measuring [during cooking] a long time ago.”
But ultimately, the book is one more way for her to reach out to and connect with all the people out there looking to reclaim a taste of traditional Eastern-European Jewish cooking.
Already, her online viewers contact Bubbe via e-mail and phone with their questions, comments and cooking experiences. In fact, Bubbe’s fans can even leave a “911 call” for her when they are having a cooking emergency.
“One time, Avrom called me at 7:30 in the morning. He said ‘You’ve got to answer this one,’” Bubbe says. “She’s a young woman and she wants to make potato latkes and she doesn’t know where to start.” Another time, Bubbe tells, “I’m in the doctor’s office and my cell phone rings.
Avrom says, ‘Bubbe, this person needs help with brisket.’” Now Bubbe even has a Facebook page and a Twitter feed – so you can reach her just about anytime.
“I’ve gotten so many e-mails from 20- to 30-year-olds,” she says, “who maybe just have something lacking that they can’t express to family members... The way I answer my grandchildren, I answer them.”